A Kiss on Bomb-Dusted Lips
by Eponine Rose the LostGirl
Summary: Liesel Meminger was too familiar with goodbyes. The wounds healed of course, slowly in time, but there was one scab that was always ready to give way to crimson blood. The kiss, the kiss that she hadn't given Rudy Steiner in life, ate away at her. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted nothing more than to see his face as she did. And I was willing to make it happen. ***DEATH'S POV***


Emptiness. That was all Liesel Meminger felt as she stared at the notebook, numb to the core. It wasn't the one that she'd had back on Himmel Street, that one was already in my possession, and that ugly, glaring fact resonated deep in her thoughts. Inspiration failing to hit her, she threw the book in disgust. I knew that the book thief must hate me on some level - I had robbed her of nearly everyone she had - but I couldn't keep myself from visiting her. It was one of the many mistakes I've made while making my rounds.

The sky was a charcoal black, a mysterious and romantic black, a heavy black that rested on everyone's shoulders and weighed on them with force. But it weighed on Liesel most of all. It seemed as though it had been pressing on her for quite some time, each day pushing her further and further into the ground.

****A WORD ON THE BOOK THIEF****

**She is perhaps the strongest human being I have ever stopped to acknowledge.**

**She lives through the unspeakable pain and the memories, yet still manages to**

**function. For that I respect her greatly.**

It had been one month since the bombing in which her mama, papa, and her beloved _saukerl_ had perished, but the "survivor's guilt" - as it is so called - still hung over her head like a thundercloud. She lost nights of sleep pondering why I had let her be that fateful day. The truth, I will now disclose to you: it isn't my choice at all. I am not some bloodthirsty character who goes about slaughtering innocents in their sleep. I simply go about collecting the souls who are unfortunate enough to meet demise. Even so, I felt something stirring deep inside of me, something almost _human_. It was guilt, red and uncomfortable and loud, elbowing its way through my insides. Something made me want to see this girl have a happy ending, which I normally see as a pointless cliche. And I was about ready to break quite a few rules to make it happen. Uncharacteristic, I know, but this was the book thief and - dare I say it - I knew that the puzzle of this human life wasn't complete. And if there is one story that I needed to see completed, it's that of Liesel Meminger and her _saukerl._

_**X-X-X-X**_

__When I took Liesel away, she was in Germany no longer. She lived in Sydney, Australia, and was an experienced woman of eighty two. She was still lively, still able, but she was weighed down by the memories, the images that danced before her every night. So it was time to take her.

I approached her slowly, and I had the sense that she knew who I was, that perhaps she had seen me during my Himmel Street encounters. Easing the soul from her body, I set her down on Anzac Avenue, near the soccer field. I thought she might enjoy it, since soccer was so important to her childhood. Then I produced the black book, and it brought forth a look of astonishment.

"Is this really it?" she asked, taking it tentatively.

I nodded.

With great trepidation, she opened the story, her story. She skimmed over the words, now faded but able to be read, and I could see the memories coming back to her, all of them.

"Did you read it?" she asked. She never once looked at me, however, it was only the words. Always the words.

I nodded once again. "Many times."

After a tired pause, she asked, "Could you understand it?"

Another pause then. More graceful, more full of thought. Then I professed, "I am haunted by humans. I've watched you over the years, seen your distress. I want you to have a finished story, Liesel. I distract myself by watching the lives come together, and yours? It's unfinished. But it will be. Someday."

Then I picked her up once again, and took her to the spot, the spot where I leave the souls. I really don't know where they go from there. I assume it's Heaven, but how would I know? I smirked to myself then. The book thief had gone from one "Himmel" to the next. Human irony will never fail to amuse me. Of course she continued to ask me what I had meant earlier, but I couldn't tell her. I had broken too many rules already. She would know though, sooner or later.

**A.N.- Hey! I just want to say that I love this book and I fangirl every time I see the movie trailer, so, you could call me obsessed. I really don't know where this fic will go, but I hope it will be good! Please leave a review and share your thoughts!**


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